Cutters

A cutter-rig sailboat has an additional sail (the staysail) set on its own stay between the foresail and the headsail.

A sloop rigged in this way would no longer be identified as a Bermudan sloop, but would be more accurately described as a cutter-rigged sloop.

Some cutters (like the one shown here) have the foresail set forward on a bowsprit, with the inner forestay permanently rigged to the stemhead where the foresail otherwise would be, or to strongpoint further aft on the foredeck.

In this article I've said that ketches, yawls, schooners with two headsails can be called cutter rigged. This is a commonly used description but strictly speaking, there's only one rig that can accurately be called a cutter - and that's a sloop with two headsails. My thanks to 'Old Salt' for drawing my attention to this!

Other Types of Sailboats

The seven sailboat rig variations shown here are the most popular types of modern cruising boat rigs, but there are other rig versions which were once found on commercial, fishing, and naval sailing vessels.